Plate hanger



R. GRAVES PLATE HANGER Oct. 21, 1952 Filed May 6, 1950 INVENTOR. fieer Grave/5' HZ Thmgs Patented ct. 21, 1952 UNITED TYRE? PTENT 'QFFICE a 2,614.77 spars HANGER lteber Graves, Glen Ellyn, ill.

Application May 6, 1950, Serial No. 16%,439

(G1. Zslii-Eii) 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a hanger for plates and the like. Devices of this character are commonly used for supporting plates which it is desired to suspend from a wall, a ceiling, or the under side of a shelf for display and decorative purposes. hanger which is adaptable to plates of various sizes, shapes and configurations that my invention is primarily concerned. A further object is to provide a hanger which is simple, inexpensive, durable, and eifective in its grip upon the article to be suspended.

A suggestive embodiment of this invention is set forth in the accompanying drawing wherein- Figure l is a perspective view of a plate supported upon a wall by the present hanger;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the hanger per se;

Fig. 3 is a View in elevation of the hanger applied to its supported plate; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, taken on line il of Fig. 3.

The present hanger comprises a rod R that is straight except at one end where an eye (or hook) 8 is formed. Starting at the opposite end, the rod shank it is provided with screw threads which extend through a major portion of its length. Apair of adjustable fulcrums i2 and H3 is carried upon the rod; one or both of these fulerums may be nuts that are adapted to be screwed onto the threaded shank of the rod for adjusting movement thereupon.

Carried by the rod andextending upwardly therefrom is a self-adjusting plate-holding unit U comprising a pair of wire fingers I6 and [i3 having their upper ends reversely bent to provide depending hooks 2i and 22 and their opposite ends pivoted to a rockable yoke 24!. For such a pivotal connection, openings 26 and 26 are formed in the yoke 2' 1 to receive the hooked ends it and 32 of the fingers. The yoke 26 is laterally bent to provide a horizontal lip 34! containing a hole it which loosely receives the threaded shank iii of the rod. The diameter of the hole 36 exceeds that of the rod shank it sufficiently to allow considerable play therebetween whereby the yoke may be freely rocked to either side of the shank.

A second and complementary self-adjusting plate-holding unit L comprising a yoke ii? and fingers and iii terminating in hooks it and i8 is also carried by the rod and extended d0wn wardly therefrom. A lip til which extends laterally from the yoke it is formed therethrough with an over-size hole 52 to loosely receive the rod shank ill. This lower unit L is the same in construction as the upper unit U already de- It is with a view to providing such a scribed. When the two units are assembled on therod, the upper nut IE will be positioned just above the yoke lip 36 and the lower nut Hl'just below the yoke lip 50. These nuts which are adjustable lengthwise of the rod provide fulcrums whereon the yokes may rock; Since either nut may be adjusted, it is possible to vary the spacing of the two yokes relative to each other. It is also possible without changing the spacing between the yokes to shift the posit'ionof the rod lengthwise thereof. By such a manipulation the position of the rod eye 8 may be raised or lowered relative to the hanger as a whole.

In operation the hooks 26, 22, it and d8 of the upper and lower fingers are fitted over the edge of a plate P as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. These fingers may be slightly bowed endwise, as shown in Fig. i, to conform somewhat to the contour of the usual plate which is dished. When operatively fitted in place, one nut or the other is manipulated to permit advance of the yokes relatively toward or from each other, or, if desired, both nuts may be rotated for this purpose. By so proceeding, the finger hooks which grip the plate may be tightened thereagainst at opposite points so as to securely hold the plate in the hanger.

An important feature of the present invention is that the fingers automatically adjust themselves lengthwise so as to equalize their grip on a plate of irregular outline. This is dueto the fact that when the yokes are tilted to either side of the shank it, the point of pivotal connection of each finger relative to its supporting yoke is shifted both laterally and longitudinally with the result that the reach of the fingers is increased or decreased as the case may be to equalize their pressure on the plate edge. This is illustrated clearly by the position of the upper yoke i i in Fig. 3.

With the plate thus gripped by the hanger, the eye 3 may be fitted over a fastening such as a hook ti l previously attached to a Wall W. A mounting is thereby provided for the hanger and the plate held thereby. If it is desired to suspend the plate from the underside of a shelf or from a ceiling, the vertical position of the rod may be raised so that the eye 8 is at or near the top of the plate in which position it may conveniently be engaged by a hook depending from the shelf or ceiling, as the case may be.

I claim:

1. A plate hanger comprising a vertical rod having a screw-threaded shank and formed at one end with an eye, vertically disposed upper and lower yokes each having at one end a horizontally disposed lip with an opening therein through which the shank of the rod is loosely extended with capacity for each yoke to rock thereon about a horizontal axis through a substantial rotative distance, a pair of fingers pivotally attached to each yoke at its other end at spaced points at opposite sides of the rod shank, the fingers being provided with plate-engaging hooks on their free ends for gripping the margin of a plate at variable distances apart, and a pair of nuts threaded on the rod shank to the outside of the yoke lips and each providing therefor an adjustable fulcrum about which the yoke may freely rock to maintain automatically a condition of balanced tension in the two fingers whenever the points of finger engagement with the plate are unequally distant from the rod shank.

2. A plate hanger comprising a vertical rod having a screw-threaded shank, a pair of vertically elongated yokes each formed with a horizontally disposed lip having an opening therein through which the shank of the rod is loosely extended with capacity for each yoke to rock thereon through a substantial rotative distance, the two lips being disposed at the yoke ends which are proximate to each other, a pair of fingers pivotally attached to each yoke at its end which is remote from the other yoke at spaced points on opposite sides of the rod shank and formed with plate-engaging hooks on their free ends for gripping the margin of a plate at variable distances apart, and a pair of nuts threaded on the rod shank to the outside of the yoke lips and coacting therewith to provide therefor adjustable abutments about which the yokes may freely rock to maintain automatically a condition of balanced tension in the two fingers whenever the points of finger engagement with the plate are unequally distant from the rod shank.

3. A plate hanger comprising a vertical rod, two plate-engaging hook units mounted on the rod at spaced points lengthwise thereof and engageable with a plate therebetween for support thereof, one of the plate-engaging hook units comprising a yoke having at one end vertically thereof an apertured lip disposed transversely of the rod and loosely surrounding the same with capacity for a Wide-range rocking move ment relative thereto, a pair of wires terminating in plate-engaging hooks pivotally connected to the yoke at its opposite end at spaced points on opposite sides of the rod, the rod portion adjacent the yoke being screw-threaded, and a nut threaded on the rod and coacting with the yoke lip to provide therefor an adjustable fulcrum about which the yoke may freely rock to maintain automatically a condition of balanced tension ,in the two wires whenever the points of wire hook engagement with the plate are unequally distant from the rod.

REBER GRAVES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 213,26e Vizet Mar. 11, 1879 223,239 Ovington Jan. 6, 1880 904,690 Francis Nov. 24, 1908 1,382,908 Helka June 28, 1921 2,438,436 Graves l Mar. 23, 1948 

